Share:

A Journey Through ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’

Recently I decided to take my daughter on the epic quest that is all 7 seasons Star Trek the Next Generation. When I say recently. I mean she was 6 when we started and now she’s not too far off turning 8. At 7 seasons each with around 25 episodes its been It’s been a marathon.

However I’d have to say I’ve really enjoyed reliving this series and for those of you wondering whether this show is worth a look {perhaps Discovery has you wondering what the rest of Star Trek is like}, here are some of the reasons you should pop it on.

1. Amazing Acting

It’s no secret that Patrick Stewart’s performance as Jean Luc Picard was so amazing that the character was the actual secret real male role model for a generation of young men with average dads. In all seriousness though the best acting award here actually goes to Brent Spiner for bringing Mr Data to a fascinating artificial life.

Spiner managed to riff on the inherent innocence and naivete of the character but still brought the kind of enormous intelligence that made Data an asset to the crew. This is artificial intelligence portrayed with incredible sophistication and subtlety. I could go on but suffice it to say that if TNG was made in the current Era we’d all be talking about a Mt Data spin off series.

2. The Death of the Red Shirts.

Or rather the death of the idea that the lower ranks or minor characters don’t matter.

OK to be fair that was never an idea in the original Star Trek but it’s hard to remember that when the average ensign’s main duty is to serve as a kind of ablative shielding for the captain. In TNG however, minor characters matter.

Characters like Worf and Geordi get some serious screen time and even the engineering back up guy, Reg Barkley gets an episode all about him each season. My favorite example of subordinates mattering is where Picard sends an ensign on a covert mission where she’s killed and EVERYONE IS GUTTED.

Overall the greater willingness to give the wider cast more of their own time and place more value on them makes the show richer.

3. Allegories

One of the most jarring things about watching TNG is that so many of the big issues and moral debates of the present day were already being cleverly explored in a Sci fi TV show in the 1990s.

Gender identity & gender equality? Yep.

Polygamy and sexual liberation? No problem.

Genetic engineering? Let’s go there.

Artificial intelligence? How about 4 or 5 different approaches?

Climate change? TNG does that one so many time you’d be forgiven for thinking me must have gotten it sorted out by now.

These aren’t things I especially enjoyed about the show but they are things I have to admire the writers for grappling with. The sad thing is that TNG wasn’t ahead of its time it’s that so many of these things haven’t been resolved yet.

4. Sweet Aliens

First we have to address the artificially enhanced elephant in the room and note that the Borg deserve their own spot on the list. They’re not getting it but they do deserve it.

But really Borg are just the tip of the iceberg. We get to see the Ferenghi evolve from weird space goons into shifty merchants, we meet the Cardassians in all their vicious but faded glory and we learn a hell of a lot about the background to the cardassian/bajoran/federation wars that are the opening scenes of the entirety of Deep Space 9. On top of that we get to see the inner workings of a Romulan war bird see the struggles of the resistance in the Romulan empire and witness the inner squabblings of the Klingon high Council.

TNG isn’t unique in the Trek universe for having sweet aliens but what it did include and develop had such enormous impact on what followed that it stands as possibly the most influential of all the Trek series.

5. Q

The pandimensional god/jester character Q really does something to TNG that I never appreciated as a kid. He ties it all together by providing a sub narrative that sits above every element and character in the show.

As you progress through the show you never know when he’ll appear and sweep the board clear, upending everything and pushing the story into a totally different direction.

In a way this isn’t the tale of the enterprise it’s kind of the story of what Q got up to when he was bored one lunchtime and decided to torture some ants that live in a star ship.

Q alone takes TNG to a level that Trek had never been to and will probably never get to again.

6. The Opening theme

This is a short but sweet one. Put on an episode of TNG and crank the volume. All the Trek shows have good opening music (aside from the Aural hell that is the start of ‘Enterprise’). But TNG just beats them all. it’s majestic, high energy and golden. If listening to this and watching the Enterprise whoosh through space doesn’t stir your passions, you’re in the wrong place. Thid might seem like an insignificant factor but truly it’s not.

So those are some of the reasons why TNG is so wicked. Kick back, relax and watch it. I hope you get as much as I did out of this series, it’s an absolute bottler.